John August

QandA

Flashbacks and dreams

Formatting, QandA

Should you make a special notation in scene headings that are flashbacks or
dream sequences? If so, how?

–Michael Krieger

If the flashback is a single scene, then [FLASHBACK] is generally added to
the end of the scene header, like this:

EXT. LOUVRE – DAY [FLASHBACK]

If you have multiple short scenes clumped together in a flashback sequence (for instance, the location is changing, but the time-frame is the same), then
you can use [FLASHBACK] for each of those scene headings, or maybe [FLASHBACK,
CONT’D].

When in doubt, just use common sense. If the flashback is really another sequence
in the movie, like the three chapters in GO, then don’t put anything in the
header.

The same logic applies for dream sequences, e.g. [DREAM SEQUENCE], with the
caveat that sometimes you don’t want the reader to know at the head of the
scene that it’s not real. So obviously, you wouldn’t put the tag there at all.

In general, try to read the script as if you didn’t write it, then see what’s
clearest.

Script, story, screenplay

QandA

questionmarkWhat is the difference between a script, story and screenplay? How “developed” (stage wise) are they in comparison to each other?

–Hemant

answer icon“Scripts” and “screenplays” are interchangeable when it comes to feature films, but television scripts are always called scripts. (Except when they’re called teleplays, which is only in certain on-screen credits.)

“Story” is more or less what it sounds like: the plot, the characters, the settings and tone. It differs from a script or screenplay only in that the dialog often isn’t written out, and the overall action may be somewhat compressed. A writer might be credited with the “story” for a movie, but not the “screenplay,” if he wrote a treatment but not the final script. Usually, if one writer handles both “story” and “screenplay,” he/she receives a more general “written by” credit.

How long to write a script

Go, QandA

How long did it take to write GO? How long does it take to
write a finished script? Do you work at an office day in, day out, or is it
different?

–Floris

GO took about two years to write, but it was an unusual case in that I wrote
it as a short film, then let it sit around for a long time before I did the
full version. My active work time on the script was probably about four months,
which is not a bad estimate for most of the things I’ve worked on.

Some things have had to go faster out of necessity. I wrote the first draft
of CHARLIE’S ANGELS in three weeks, because that was all the time I had available
between commitments. (I later went back and did another two months of work
on it, right before production.)

Currently, I work out of an office in my home. I have an assistant who works
from 9 to 6, which is what I consider my "working" hours, but truthfully
my life is more like college. Sometimes you can screw around during the day,
and sometimes you have to pull all-nighters to get work done.

How long a treatment?

QandA, Treatments

I am currently writing my first feature length screenplay
and have been asked to send in a treatment to a production company. What is
the standard form for
a treatment (how many pages, etc)? I have trawled the Internet to no avail.

–DOC

There is no standard. Ask the production company what they mean by a treatment,
and they’ll probably tell you what they’re looking for in terms of pages. They
may even send a sample.

For example, my assistant Dana is currently writing a treatment for a production
company. The treatment will end up being 15-20 pages, single spaced. To me,
that’s at the long end of a treatment, but that’s what the company wanted.

A treatment of any length generally describes all of the major scenes or sequences in the movie in prose form, but doesn’t get into specific dialogue. From a
treatment, a reader should be able to get a good sense of the movie’s plot,
but not necessarily its special flavor. A treatment is never a substitute for
a screenplay.